Reports: BIG SAM BACK

Sky Sports and the BBC are reporting that the inevitable will soon be made official: Crystal Palace, a single day after canning Alan Pardew, will appoint former England manager (that really happened, right?) and relegation zone escape artist Sam Allardyce as their next manager.

Palace have talent on the roster and money to spend, and Allardyce knows how to wring just enough points out of teams in the very situation the Eagles find themselves in, way down near the bottom of the Premier League table. It might not look pretty (he probably intends to make Christian Benteke’s forehead the lead of his beefy, direct, guileless style) but Palace should be able to extend their stay in the top division with Allardyce’s proven tactical strategies and maybe a couple new defenders in the transfer window.

Big Sam isn’t the sexiest name out there, and he is coming off a humiliatingly brief 67-day spell as England manager that ended in scandal, but Palace, despite their kit’s color scheme, aren’t exactly Barcelona. The line of experienced managers eager to hop into a relegation battle usually isn’t long. Plus, the controversy that got Allardyce sacked from the England job was more indecorous than nefarious, so there’s no reason why Big Sam shouldn’t get another good job coming off that embarrassment.

We’re excited to see what comes. Even if the style of play isn’t great, the press conferences should be.

[ Sky Sports]